Council must hit brakes on this bus lane experiment - Iain Whyte
Bus lane stories in the Evening News are like buses themselves. None come for ages then two or three turn up at once.
Following swiftly on the back of two reports of soaring bus lane fines in the city Monday’s paper reported on the start of the 7-7-7 bus lane trial through my Craigentinny Duddingston Ward. That’s 7:00am to 7:00pm seven days a week.
Running from Milton Road to London Road this will be extended in the coming months along the route of the No. 44 to Balerno.
This is a trial without purpose as Lothian Buses are on record that the bulk of the congestion that delays buses is at junctions. The bus lanes stop short. Better traffic management and better managed roadworks might help more.
Worse, the rest of the city will remain on the peak hours that only operate Monday to Friday and were successfully harmonised in 2015. I foresee confusion and more of those hefty fines for drivers - another tyranny from the anti-car Council
As always with the Council, there are also unintended consequences but the left-wing idealogues on the Transport Committee don’t seem to care.
The worst is for our small neighbourhood traders. They can no longer legitimately use the times between peak hours for loading at their businesses. Stops by passing trade will also be severely affected – especially on Saturdays and Sundays when the bus lanes used to be five days only. A petition with thousands of signatures from Nikki’s Fleurs on Wolesely Place demonstrates the anger created.
An earlier start to bus lanes also means an enforced earlier start for those needing care, and potentially no second visit before 7:00pm. One resident must now get her care visit at 6:00am to get her up and dressed. The carers come by car so they can make their many daily visits across the city.
The Council is consulting you but in a sneaky way. The changes are an “Experimental Traffic Regulation Order” where the consultation takes place after the changes have been made. Are they likely to ditch it all after implementation?
If you don’t like the new bus lane hours and the waste of £282K of your money on this unnecessary “experiment” please let the Council know by commenting on ETRO/26/16.
The more who do the better. If there are enough some left-wing politicians might even listen with an election coming next May.